Paws for a Cause benefit gets moving with samba, salsa and belly dancing

Belly dancers, samba drumming and salsa dancing are all part of Paws for a Cause, set for May 14 as a benefit for One Love Animal Rescue and to raise awareness for homeless animals in the community.

The nonprofit animal rescue “works solely through volunteers and a foster home network and fundraising/donations to save the animals in our community that have been abandoned, neglected and abused,” said founder Dana Bertagnolli. Since September 2013, the organization has saved over 1,375 animals.

The benefit is from noon-6 p.m. May 14 at The Foundery Coffee Pub on Habersham Street. Look for an artisan market, bake sale, raffles, silent auction and that aforementioned live entertainment.

“This event allows us to raise the capital that helps us to continue saving lives every day,” she said. One Love partners with shelters, other rescue groups and the community to make adoptions happen.

“We strive to highlight the importance of spaying or neutering pets, which will aid in the reduction of overpopulation,” she said. “We believe that appropriate and positive reinforcement training and socialization of these shelter animals will lead to well-adjusted family pets, thereby decreasing the number of abandoned animals in shelters. Our dream is that one day all the shelters will be empty because every pet will have a home.

“On any given day we have around 100 animals in foster homes,” she said. “We provide all care including vet and behavioral training to our pets.”